Gay veteran denied request to be buried with her wife's ashes

Madelynn Taylor, a 74-year-old U.S. Navy veteran, didn't want death to tear her and her wife apart. That's why, when her partner died two years ago, Taylor asked the Idaho Veterans Cemetery to reserve a plot for her so that she could be buried alongside her wife's ashes.

Despite a cemetery policy that allows spouses of veterans to buried with them, the cemetery declined Taylor's request — and now she's speaking out. Taylor told KBOI-TV she wasn't surprised that her request was denied. "I've been discriminated against for 70 years, and they might as well discriminate against me in death as well as life," she said.

Since Idaho only recognizes a marriage between a man and a woman, the cemetery said it has to abide by the state's constitution. "I don't see where the ashes of a couple old lesbians is going to hurt anyone," Taylor said.

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Watch the full interview below. -- Jordan Valinsky